Jessica Rubinkowski

"Seventeen-year-old Valeria has been on the run ever since she escaped the curse of Knnot, a magical happening that encased her entire mining town in unbreakable ice"--

The Bright and the Pale

Debut author Jessica Rubinkowski delivers the thrilling first book in an epic Russian folklore–inspired fantasy duology filled with page-turning romance, tragedy, magic, and monsters. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sara Raasch! Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed on her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the czar, who has set out to imprison anyone who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend, Alik, the only piece of home she has left. That is, until he is brutally murdered. A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held captive. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot. And it has waited years for release.

The Bright & the Pale

Camille 

giving a 3.5 on the reread. this book holds a special place in my heart as one of the first few that i read that wasn’t required hs reading. 

it’s def giving YA fantasy and focuses more on the mc than the world or side characters, BUT this is such a unique plot and i will not stop talking abt it

Casee Loudermilk

giving a 3.5 on the reread. this book holds a special place in my heart as one of the first few that i read that wasn’t required hs reading. 

it’s def giving YA fantasy and focuses more on the mc than the world or side characters, BUT this is such a unique plot and i will not stop talking abt it

Nessa Luna

** spoiler alert **
           Ok but why do people think writing books that take place in caves/tunnels is a good idea? I was so anxious all throughout that whole part of the book ahhhh. But I love myself a little found family who has to steal something story. 

Wasn't a huge fan of the romance, tbh, but they might grow on me in the sequel...

Debut author Jessica Rubinkowski delivers the thrilling first book in an epic Russian folklore-inspired fantasy duology filled with page-turning romance, tragedy, magic, and monsters. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sara Raasch! Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed on her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she's been on the run from the czar, who has set out to imprison anyone who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend, Alik, the only piece of home she has left. That is, until he is brutally murdered. A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held captive. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot. And it has waited years for release.

Megan Lowe

This is a solid YA fantasy book.
It’s not overly complicated, although there are a heap of twists and turns which I enjoyed.
I liked the cast of characters, Val and Chinua especially. I liked that Val wasn’t afraid of her emotions and that she for once in a ya fantasy book, communicated.
Although this book is relatively simple, it is complex in its detail, but is a good, quick read.
I’m super satisfied with this book, and look forward to the second one.

Hannah Wall

Bright and Pale Review
WITH SPOILERS!!!!!!

This review is my thoughts, concerns, and emotions while reading this book. If you don’t like that, please move along. 


 
I really like the setting, but I wish there was a map. Valeria is kind of like a young Inej. Valeria is the only character I can connect with so I hope further on the characters become more personal. 
I’m pretty sure there is a mole in the guild because to many soldiers are appearing at right time. Sketchy. 
Ivan is interesting and I am curious about him. 
Chinua seems to be sweet. 
I do like that Valeria knows she is unable to help and isn’t risking her life, but I also don’t love how sorry she feels for herself. 

Page-74
I love Alik sooo much!!! Is he going to be a cinnamon roll or are we going to get a broody love interest??? I think the scares will only add to his attraction. But I love the friends to hopefully lovers- it’s been awhile. 

Page 102-
Everyone has so many secrets. I do not like Serafima at all. And Alik doesn’t seem to be as good as I thought he’d be. Many love interest but I have doubts now. The world building I really good. I would rate it a solid 4 right now. 

Page 133-
THEY ALMOST KISSED AND OF COURSE IT WAS INTERRUPTED!!!! Ok, but I have a thought- could she be a champion of one of the gods???? Like the cave is warm and ice went away from her when she was a child. Maybeeeee… also Alik has my whole heart now- I love him to pieces. 
On page 135 i found an error. Chinua says something and it isn’t quoted. This is the first time I’ve ever caught one. 

Page 159-
I feel like Luiza is going to betray Valeria, but I really don’t want it to happen. It always does in books- that leader finds better power or makes sure to MC reaches their potential so the leader blocks out other distractions. I’m kinda sad though. 
Halfway through and it’s a 4.5 rating now. 

So I finished it late last night and was so into it I forgot to take notes. I really enjoyed it all! I knew Luiza was going to betray Valeria, but I’m still so sad about it.

I also and really happy Alik and Valeria are together, but I feel like they never really make progress in arguments. They fight- Alik says something sweet- Valeria starts to cry- they make up without any really communication. 

I knew she would be the Pale God’s champion and I’m really liking him, but now she’s powerdrunk. And all she wants to do and kill everyone who hurt her and the entire kingdom. Like now someone is going to have to stop her and I’m very excited for the next book. Defiantly a five star rating now!

Blayke 

𝐸𝑁/𝐹𝑅

| WARNING: I am no longer the targeted audience of the YA books.| 

As a child, Valeria has escaped the freeze, a magical spell the Knnot Mountain has placed upon her village and family, freezing them in eternity. The Czar, whispering in its people’s hear that her people is the reason behind all the unluckiness they know, is coming for her and her best-friend Alik while they hide in the Thieves Guild, a best friend that will die to protect her, quite literally.
But one year later, Valeria is faced with the truth, Alik is alive and used as bait for her, forcing her to help a strange group of persons into the very same mountain who condemned her to loneliness, to retrieve the precious metal which may change the equilibrium of their world, depending on whom will have it, The Bright or the Pale.

I’ll say It was a quick and easy read, a nice YA with a good interpretation of Russian/Polish’s folklore, that I will place above the almost ridiculous appropriation of Shadow & Bone but far below the masterpiece of The Bear and the Nightingale.

This was the very embodiment of a YA fantasy, with its good and its bad sides. 
The good ones were the pace and the whole idea behind this world’s magic and the bad ones were the reused plots and tropes, especially the obvious friend to lovers one, with a bit too much whiny from the main characters.
But as stated at the beginning of this review, I am no longer the targeted audience of YA fantasy books and I must say if you’re looking for a nice one to curl up with on winter cold nights, The Bright and the Pale could be a good choice. 

| Attention: Je ne suis plus le public visé par les livres YA.| 

Enfant, Valeria a échappé au Gèle, un sort placé par la Montagne Knnot sur son village et sa famille, les gelant pour l’éternité. Le Czar, chuchotant dans l’oreille de son peuple que les siens sont la raison derrière toutes les malheurs qu’ils connaissant, est à ses trousses et à celles de son meilleur ami, Alik, alors qu’ils se cachent à la Guilde des Voleurs, un meilleur ami prêt à mourir pour elle, de façon littérale. 
Mais un an plus tard, Valeria doit faire face à la vérité, Alik est vivant et est utilisé comme appât pour elle, la forçant à aider un étrange groupe de personnes pour pénétrer dans la montagne même qui l’a condamné à la solitude, pour récupérer un métal précieux pouvant changer l’équilibre de leur monde, en fonction de qui mettra la main dessus, The Bright ou The Pale. 
Je dois dire que c’était une lecture rapide et facile, un bon young adult avec une interprétation correcte du folklore Russe/Polonais, que je situe au-dessus de l’appropriation presque ridicule de Shadows and Bone mais bien en-dessous du chef d’œuvre qu’est The Bear and the Nightingale. 
C’est une parfaite représentation du fantasy YA, avec ses bons et ses mauvais côtés. 
Les bons côtés étaient le rythme et l’idée générale derrière la magie de ce monde et les mauvais étaient les plots et tropes réutilisés, surtout l’évident friends to lovers, avec un peu trop de plaintes de la part des personnages principaux. 
Mais comme expliqué au début de ma revue, je ne suis plus l’audience visée par les livres de fantasy YA et je dois l’avouer, si vous chercher un livre de ce genre pour le dévorer durant les froides nuits d’hiver, The Bright and The Pale p


Giulia Pianta

I am not sure how to rate this. 


  What I liked

I like unlikeable female characters, especially if they are full of rage and anger, because I can sympathise with them.
The dialogues between Alik and Valeria are so dramatic and a bit over-the-top, which I usually don’t like. I like characters that say things that sound realistic, and don’t talk like pretentious poets. But here it wasn’t bad and I enjoyed how everyone was so dramatic.
I usually don’t care much about Russian-inspired atmosphere, it’s not bad but I don’t go looking for it in books. Here it was very light and I guess mostly in the names and in the snowy setting. Speaking of the snowy setting, this is something I really enjoyed. I think it was well done and I often almost felt really cold too!
The ending was GOOD
The whole idea of the pale and the bright gods is really interesting and I think that (view spoiler)[the Pale God was really cool too, he was very mysterious and you can tell he is hiding stuff and is not necessarily good, but also you can understand his reasons. (hide spoiler)]


  What I didn’t like

The protagonist was a bit over the top. I liked how angry she was but sometimes there was no reason. I think that what bothered me the most was that it was obvious that there was something going on between Alik and Luiza, but why didn’t Alik and Valeria just sit down and talk about it? They kept mentioning this and immediately getting upset and just not discussing what the problem was. I feel that this could be so easily solved and the only reason it wasn’t is to make the book longer and create conflict. But the conflict has to make sense and not be something so silly.
The same happened when Alik lets slip that (view spoiler)[Ivan was a Storm Hound, if you didn’t want Valeria to know just don’t call him with his rank. I get that the author wanted Valeria to find this out, but it could’ve been done with a better device. Also, why not tell her immediately? Explain the whole story from the start so Alik wouldn’t have to lie. (hide spoiler)]

I think that overall the story was good but not wow. It is definitely a debut and you can tell that easily. I would give probably 3 starts, it was easy to read and some parts were really interesting, but the overall experience is not something that I will remember much or that impacted me.

Jennifer

I seem to have a very hit or a miss track record with my secondary tbr's. The Bright & the Pale being on the "miss" lane. I think this is one of the books where the worldbuilding has potentials: it's atmospheric (I love the wintry landscape that's described in the book), it provides plenty of ingrdients for thematic developments, but unfortunately the actual execution of the writing falls way short. 

Instead of stretching the limits, Rubinkowski played it safe with the character arcs and the plots. And through playing it safe, the actual essence of the writing is overly simplified and the messaging diluted. This is frustrating because despite the short length of the novel, I struggled to finish the whole thing due to the lack of coherent messages.

N.B. This book contains following content warnings: death, loss of loved ones, and violence

(2.5 stars out of 5)

Paola C

Samantha King

Such a hypnotic read, I binged this in two days and if I could have I would have finished it in a day. 
The story is incredibly well written, well paced. The characters are all written so well also.
The descriptivness was written so well it engulfs you. 
I cant even begin to do justice with a review a brilliant debute novel.
Powerfulful, captivating and one that will keep you hooked. You won't want to put it down. 
I cannot wait for a second book I hope there will be one

Anna Leigh

ashley larsen

wow! i loved this book. it was everything i needed. the atmosphere, characters, plot and everything was just amazing. i need the sequel like now!!

Lisa Beasley

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. The physical book itself is stunning but the story was just a bit meh for me. I did not believe in the friendship or romance between the two main characters. For a start for two people who have been friends since childhood they did not trust each other at all, he was very dismissive of her and she was just bloody whiny at points. Her inner monologue got old really quickly. She was so argumentative it got boring. 

The plot itself was okay but there was so many things that just weren't explained well or shown to the reader enough to get a good enough sense of the world or people to make me care. 

2.5 stars, doubt I will bother with the sequel. It is a shame.

The Bright and the Pale

Reviews

Highlights